🎬 Video Compression Script for Linux#

This script compresses videos using ffmpeg. It supports both direct file arguments and recursive folder scanning, while offering flexible control over quality, audio, and output handling.

✨ Features#

  • File arguments or folder scanning:

  • Provide video files directly as arguments.

  • Or run without arguments to compress all videos in $VIDEO_FOLDER.

  • Interactive prompts:

  • Choose a Constant Rate Factor (CRF) at runtime (default = 27).

  • Decide whether to overwrite originals or save with a suffix.
  • Uses ffmpeg with H.264 (libx264), CRF, and preset for efficient compression.

  • Flexible audio handling:

  • Re-encode at chosen bitrate.

  • Copy audio unchanged.
  • Strip audio completely.
  • Dry run mode to preview actions without running ffmpeg.
  • Optional renaming of originals with a custom processed suffix.
  • KDE / Dolphin right-click menu integration via .desktop file.

📥 Installation#

Requires ffmpeg:

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Download and make the script executable:

# 1. Go to your home folder (or any directory you prefer)
cd ~

# 2. Download the script from GitHub
curl -o compress_videos.sh \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pamagister/Digital-Security-Ops-Mastery/main/ubuntu-linux-automations/scripts/compress_videos.sh

# 3. Make the script executable
chmod +x compress_videos.sh

# 4. Run the script
./compress_videos.sh

⚙️ Configuration#

Inside the script, you can adjust these defaults:

VIDEO_FOLDER="$HOME/Videos"   # Root folder if no input args
DEFAULT_CRF=27                # Default CRF (lower = better quality, 20–30 typical)
PRESET="slow"                 # ffmpeg preset: ultrafast ... veryslow
AUDIO_BITRATE="192k"          # Re-encode audio bitrate
SUFFIX_COMPRESSED="_compressed"  # Default suffix (unused if overwriting)
SUFFIX_PROCESSED=""           # Optional suffix for marking originals
CODEC="libx264"               # Video codec
DRY_RUN=false                 # true = test mode (no ffmpeg executed)

🎚️ Audio Handling#

  • AUDIO_BITRATE="192k" → re-encode audio at 192 kbps.
  • AUDIO_BITRATE="" → copy audio unchanged.
  • AUDIO_BITRATE="0" or "0k" → strip audio.

🚀 Usage Examples#

Compress all videos in $VIDEO_FOLDER#

./compress_videos.sh
  • Prompts for CRF (default 27).
  • Prompts whether to overwrite originals or save as *_compressed.mp4.

Compress specific files#

./compress_videos.sh movie1.mp4 clip.avi

Run in dry-run mode (preview commands only)#

DRY_RUN=true

Mark originals as processed#

SUFFIX_PROCESSED="_old"

📂 KDE / Dolphin Right-Click Menu Integration#

To integrate with the KDE context menu, create a compress_videos.desktop file in:

~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus/

compress_videos.desktop#

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Service
ServiceTypes=KonqPopupMenu/Plugin
MimeType=video/mp4;video/x-matroska;video/avi;video/x-msvideo;video/webm;
Actions=compressvideos;
X-KDE-Priority=TopLevel

[Desktop Action compressvideos]
Name=Compress Videos
Exec=konsole -e /home/username/scripts/compress_videos.sh %F
Icon=video
Terminal=true

Now you can right-click on videos in Dolphin → Compress Videos.

📝 Notes#

  • Skips files already containing the compressed suffix.
  • Skips if a compressed version already exists (unless overwrite mode is chosen).
  • Works on Linux (tested on Ubuntu + KDE Dolphin integration).